Mike D’Antoni’s two seasons as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers are not a time that anyone is going to remember fondly. He was given the job just a few games into the 2012-2013 NBA season, replacing Mike Brown and accepting the task of turning the superstar quartet of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and Steve Nash into a contender.
Of course, we all know how things turned out. Bryant tore his Achilles, Nash couldn’t stay healthy, and Howard sulked before leaving in free agency the next summer. D’Antoni was shown the door after just two seasons in Los Angeles, but was given another shot at the helm of the Houston Rockets this season, and given their meteoric ascension, it appears that he will be a strong contender for Coach of the Year.